Secrets of Midland Heights

One of the earliest and weakest attempts to piggyback on the surprising success of "Dallas," this series suffered because it didn't have the other series' sense of place. The cast was strong, including older pros like Bibi Besch and Martha Scott along with promising younger stars like Linda Hamilton, but without that unifying sense, "Midland Heights" never felt organic. It was as if the producers had a bunch of loose parts and taped them together, rather than getting what they needed to complete a picture they had in their minds from the beginning. As a result, this show seemed more like a daytime soap ratcheted up a few degrees to suit a prime-time slot.